


the library comes bearing gifts

by badbadnotgood



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-18 21:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16126982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badbadnotgood/pseuds/badbadnotgood
Summary: Two fifteen is when Dan’s left eye begins to twitch.





	the library comes bearing gifts

**Author's Note:**

> I shortened their age difference to make them being at Uni at the same time possible!

Two fifteen is when Dan’s left eye begins to twitch.

He’s admitting defeat. Barely a thousand words into a three-thousand-word essay whose deadline is two days away is not doing wonders for his interest in this essay, nor University. He was hoping to get half way through it by tonight at the very least, which was far too ambitious to begin with.

He’s just going to have to skip tomorrow afternoon’s seminar and camp out in the library for the whole day. But shitting hell, isn’t that seminar an essay consultation? Something that would actually benefit him?

This isn’t his fault, actually. ‘Fresher’s Flu’ or whatever the fuck they’re calling life-threatening illness stayed with him a bit longer than it had everyone else – try a whole fucking month – and it took a lot out of him, so he’s behind on a lot of reading.

Pile that on top of him being too anxious to ask for guidance from his lecturers and essentially academically isolating himself, Dan is not having a merry time.

Surely absolutely no one could be left in this library, except the person at the front desk working the night shift. Even the weird kid two rows from Dan who’d fallen asleep (and snored) had managed to escape.

He thought trading his earphones for the ambience of the library would help him focus more, though apparently the air vents, the steady hum of the library’s relic of a computer that Dan’s occupying and the snoring boy managed to be more compelling than his essay.

He slumps forward onto the desk and feels sorry for himself. He could really do with a study buddy, who can offer moral support and also slap him whenever he starts zoning out of his work.

A walk would do him good. Get the creative juices flowing, or something. There is the issue, though, of him potentially being attacked at this time of night. As much as he loves Manchester, he can’t rule out getting mugged whilst innocently wandering the streets.

Then it hits him: he’s going to have to walk back to his flat alone anyway. Of course he’s this stupid.

There’s absolutely no negotiating Dan going back to his flat and trying to work there, either, because 1) he would quite literally manoeuvre from his desk chair onto his bed and promptly fall asleep, 2) his desk is small and crowded and, 3) his neighbours are insufferably loud.

The library will have to do.

He looks at his dry water bottle. He’s not particularly thirsting, but drinking means having something else to do, like pissing, and pissing is something that isn’t staring at a computer screen full of words.

Dan makes his way through the maze of bookshelves to the water cooler at the front, and spots a mess of books to the left side of the room, potentially buying another human being.

There is actually someone there, and they seem to be drowning in books and Premiere Pro. It looks far too intense for this time of night.

Dan’s suddenly inexplicably self-conscious about looking close to death and bordering lunacy with his twitching eye, because _hello._

It’s not that the guy’s incredible good looking – which, he is, obviously, it’s more how he looks like someone Dan would go out of his way to approach. Or, rather, stare at helplessly in a pathetic attempt to grab his attention.

He wears Dan’s exact hairstyle a lot better than Dan does. It’s black and makes him look strikingly pale.

It’s quite bad, really, that Dan’s sort of staring and just about hiding himself behind a convenient trolley of books.

He realises what he’s doing, turns away and walks himself back to his chair.

Unfortunately, everything is as it was: bright screen with not enough words.

He gives up after another twenty minutes and emails what’s there to himself to finish at his flat. Awful idea, but he might just about start crying if he stays here any longer.

Finishing this isn’t completely impossible. He can scrape together information from online material and bullshit his way to a pass at the very least, he’s just grumpy and unmotivated.

There’s also that treacherous voice in his head telling him first year doesn’t count.

He shrugs into his jacket, slips his bag onto his shoulders and weaves his way through the shelves and to the front.

A mess of black hair is suddenly metres away.

“Hi, sorry, this is weird, but I’ve forgotten my student ID and I sort of need it to leave. Do you mind swiping me out?”

The first thing Dan files away in his mind is the northern accent, which is very northern. He apparently left his cocoon of books in favour of escaping the library, too, the computer he was sat at now spotless. Dan holds back his word salad and shakes his head. “No problem.”

“Thanks! I do it so often lately, I should really stop that.”

“Can’t be as bad as forgetting your flat keys and having to knock awkwardly on the door in the hopes one of your creepy flatmates will let you in,” Dan says.

They step into the lift together and Dan earns a laugh.

“You don’t like your flatmates?” he asks, like it’s absurd.

Dan thinks about what constitutes as liking another person. His flatmates are definitely not in that bracket. “I didn’t exactly get put with the most approachable of people,” Dan says flatly.

“So you’re a first year,” he points out.

“I like to remind myself of that when I panic about colossal failure when I can’t produce above average pieces of work. But, yes, I am.”

Dan relaxes when the lift hits the ground floor. They fall into step and Dan notices the guy is a few inches taller than him. He isn’t walking stiffy like Dan is, either, but relaxed. Dan feels awkward and undeserving of this person’s attention.

“Really?" he asks, perplexed. "I'm actually a third year, doing my dissertation. What is it you study?”

Dan is even more self-conscious now that he knows the guy is older, on top of all the other things he has going for him. “Er, Law.”

“You don’t look like you study law,” he chuckles.

Dan doesn’t know how to read that, so he doesn’t push it further. “Aren’t I full of surprises.”

“Yes, actually,” he says thoughtfully. “Maybe you picked the wrong course.”

“Can’t imagine that being the reason.”

The security guard looks up from his paper briefly and Dan swipes his card and leads them out through the door. It’s very cold. He pulls his jacket tighter around himself.

“It’s still early days, so I wouldn’t worry. You’ll get into the swing of things. You’re still settling into a new place, which is enough to worry about on its own.”

“I suppose,” Dan says quietly.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be a therapist. Or condescending. I just know what it’s like.” Dan watches him frown and push his hands into his jacket pockets self-consciously. “I’ll be quiet.”

Dan laughs shakily. “I appreciate the interaction, actually. I think this is the most I’ve spoken to someone here in weeks.”

“Oh,” he says apologetically, “I can promise you you’ll make friends. Easier said than done, but it’ll happen.”

Dan thinks about all his insecurities that this guy doesn’t know about. Like how he’s reserved when it comes to making friends because he always got left out as a kid, and that he’s grown up to avoid making the effort with people. “I think you’re sharing too much wisdom with someone who was conveniently there to let you out of the library.”

Another laugh makes Dan’s stomach feel funny. “If it’s useful, by all means ask for more.”

“Will keep that in mind.”

“I’m this way,” the guy says, pointing at the opposite direction to where Dan’s going. He doesn’t think about how he physically deflates.

“I’m the other way,” Dan says stupidly.

“Okay, well, I’ll be in there the whole of tomorrow with my shrine of books and endless coffee,” he says.

“Snap.”

Surely the hint of nervousness to his tone is all in Dan’s head. Or it might just be the cold. Dan is definitely nothing to be nervous over.

“I might see you there.”

“I’m here if you forget your card again,” Dan says tightly, like talking to another person is suddenly the hardest thing in the world.

“Okay,” he repeats. “I’m Phil, by the way.”

 _Phil_. “Dan.”

“See you tomorrow, Dan,” he smiles, turning away slowly.

“Yeah, bye.”

Dan tells himself the cold of the night and sitting at a computer for hours and hours is the reason his legs feel a bit unsteady. None of those things are to blame for him standing there a few seconds longer to watch Phil walk the other way, though.

**Author's Note:**

> posted on [tumblr](https://rapweezer.tumblr.com/post/178558959253/the-library-comes-bearing-gifts-dan-howellphil)


End file.
